8 months!!!

8 months to go! Where did the last month go? I feel like I just wrote my 9 month entry. Now that the hustle and bustle of the holidays are behind us, Tom and I have the joy of being able to say "we are getting married this year." It feels nice that 2011 is finally here. This is our year. It was easy to come up with New Year's resolutions this year; to find a job, take better care of myself, and get married.

Despite the busy holiday season, I was able to get a lot accomplished this month (most of which I haven't been able to write about yet!). I finished up finding our vendors. Our florist has been selected, the contract was signed, and a deposit was paid. All of our wedding flowers have been selected, and I know what my bouquet will look like.

We met with our reception venue coordinator and reserved our wedding night suite. We also selected our reception menu, and started reception planning. On the DIY side of things, I started figuring out how to decorate the reception tables, including centerpiece mock-ups.

We also starting planning our wedding music. I found a classical guitarist to play our ceremony music and we selected music for our ceremony processional and recessional. Just yesterday I had a phone consultation with a DJ, and once he sends me a contract we will be well on the way towards planning the reception music as well.

This month also begins the involvement of the wedding party and guests with our wedding. We sent out a wedding party newsletter to put our entire wedding party on the same page in regards to attire, travel arrangements, and weekend scheduling. We also stayed up late one evening addressing save-the-date envelopes and sent them out to our guests that will be travelling the farthest. The remaining save-the-dates will be sent out this month.

I am planning on ordering my dress in the next week or so, and I have been working to get everything that I will need for that. I finally found my purple wedding shoes. I am still on the look-out for a strapless long-line bra. Oh, and I almost forgot. Tom got me a little "something blue" for Christmas. 

My goals for the next month are to order my dress (this week!), send out the rest of my save-the-date magnets, obtain measurements from bridesmaids in preparation for ordering their dresses, finish the bubbles and ribbon wands that I have been putting off, and pay the deposits for my ceremony musician and dj.

I'm enjoying the rather relaxed feeling towards wedding planning that I have right now. All of my major vendors are either selected or booked and the majority of my DIY projects are complete. Now I get to just relax, enjoy being engaged, and look forward to the wedding in 8 months.